


Safety

by inuyashamunkey



Series: Bad Things Happen Bingo [6]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Almost death, Angst, Blade of Marmora Keith (Voltron), Blood, Blood and Gore, Dads of Marmora (Voltron), Fever, Fluff and Angst, Galra Keith (Voltron), Hurt/Comfort, Kidnapping, Major Character Injury, Mentions of PTSD, Mouth stitched shut, Non-Consensual Body Modification, Or I should says ALLUSIONS to PTSD, Tenderness, its not intense though
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-11
Updated: 2018-11-11
Packaged: 2019-08-22 00:18:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,097
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16587077
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inuyashamunkey/pseuds/inuyashamunkey
Summary: "Keith was never a child that feared the dark, rather, he saw the dark as a blanket he could hide under, a place people were too afraid to venture into to find him. He saw it as an inevitability for one who yearned to fly among the stars as much as he did, to escape as much as he did.No, he wasn’t afraid of the dark, but he quaked in the light."





	Safety

**Author's Note:**

> Nice to see you again, thank you for joining me.

Keith was never a child that feared the dark, rather, he saw the dark as a blanket he could hide under, a place people were too afraid to venture into to find him. He saw it as an inevitability for one who yearned to fly among the stars as much as he did, to escape as much as he did.

No, he wasn't afraid of the dark, but he quaked in the light.

The light exposed him, the sun burned his flesh. No matter how many layers he wore, he could never escape the brightness of a world he never wanted to be a part of. When he was young, nothing good ever accompanied the light and Keith was hardpressed to believe anything different as he grew older.

It had always been a rule: The dark meant safety and the light meant suffering.

That was probably why he was so drawn to the Blade of Marmora, if he thought about it. Don't misunderstand him, Voltron was great; Voltron did great things for the universe and did well at being an icon of hope for the people, but they did it in a way that made them the front man, the star of the show. Keith was uncomfortable with the kind of attention being a paladin of Voltron garnered, he much preferred the anonymity of the Blade where he could blend in easily and where his face was widely unknown.

The Blade had become a home away from home.

He wished he'd appreciated that home a bit more, now.

He'd been stripped down to his undersuit, bright, blinding lights blaring down at him and making him feel horribly exposed-  _watched_. 

His lips were red and swollen, bloodied thread clamping his lips together and sawing at his tender flesh with every move he made--

_\--Silver needle glinting in the fluorescent lights above, "This'll show you to run your mouth--"_

\--He was being held in a solid white room and the color just amplified the brightness of the inescapable lights. No matter what he did; closing his eyes, covering his head, pressing his eyes to his knees, he couldn't retreat into the comfort of darkness. Even his thoughts felt booming and obnoxious.

He didn't know how long he'd been left here in solitude, but he knew it'd been too long; the Blades surely thought he was dead, by now. The thought made his chest pang with sadness, thinking about how he'd probably never see his pack again. 

Thace, Ulaz, Antok, Kolivan. They'd have to go on without him.

But they'd be okay.

Keith didn't know if that hurt more or less.

Keith let his head rest on the white flooring of his cell- not as hard as concrete but not quite soft, either- and let himself sink, trying to regain his darkness.

It didn't work, not with the disruptive lights, but it gave him something else to think about--

_\--It hurt more than when he pierced his lip with a bobby pin when he was fifteen, digging and pushing, cutting as it dragged and it went again and again, his teeth clacking together, stifling his pained huffs--_

\--He tried to move his mouth gently but had to bite back a whimper as his eyes watered. His mouth was unbearably tender and, though he had the urge to, he didn't dare try to push at the strings clumsily threaded into his mouth with his dry tongue. 

His ears strained for any sound, but the only thing that came through was the quiet buzzing of the lights ahead, not as high quality as Keith would've expected for their power, but Keith didn't entirely trust his own judgment at the moment, not with his pounding headache.

He would've knocked himself out if the corners of the room weren't soft, he would do just about anything short of death for some reprieve from the desensitizing white.

For now.

He wished he wasn't alone in here. He had to pinch himself to keep from actively wishing for Antok to have been captured with him just the thought--

_\--Antok where he was, his thin, scarred lips having holes punctured into them by inexperienced hands, Antok with sweat dripping down his collar and blood filling his mouth, choking-_

\--No, he didn't want Antok here, but if he was, he would've curled around Keith, his triple-digited hand pulling his head close as he crooned,  _"It's okay, kit."_  Antok would've hidden him from the light, would've catered his fears.

But Antok wasn't here and for that, Keith had to be grateful. Keith was grateful that he was the only one here. That Thace wouldn't have to go without Ulaz, or Kolivan without Antok. He was grateful that they hadn't lost them.

They'd quickly forget about the loss of a half-breed kit, they would have to.

Blades got left behind, it was their way.

Keith let his eyes flutter shut, hoping for some sort of release, and he dreamed in blacks and purples and yellows.

~  
He woke dazed and flushed, a cool hand gripping his cheeks and smashing his swollen lips together and it _hurt._

"He has an infection." A voice said from above him.

He was boneless, utterly incapable of moving as his body was too cold and too warm at the same horribly miserable time.

His skin felt tight and flushed, but his core held a stubborn chill that made his limbs quiver and shake.

The hand disappeared, letting his head thud against the floor. He heard the click of a tongue, "What should we do?"

"Let him die," a deeper, further away voice said without inflection.

"What about the Blades?"

"They have not come in the many lights we have had him. I tire of wasting our resources on him." Keith didn't understand what that meant, barely comprehended any of the words being said around him.

The voice next to him sighed. "As you wish it to be, then. Would you like him moved?"

"No, this place is most torturous for a creature of the night, let him suffer."

~

He didn't know when his limbs stopped moving. Thought maybe it was when his lips swelled up, red, scabbed, and ugly on his face.

He couldn't open his eyes, his headache wouldn't allow it, but he doubted he would find anything new.

He didn't know what would happen to him- if he would be pushed out of an airlock or fed to wolves from a distant planet. He didn't know what would happen to him, but he wasn't afraid for his death.

The thought of his life ending, for him to eventually be forgotten, didn't scare him. It might've when he was young and insecure, but he'd done enough good in his few shorts years in this universe that he felt okay with it ending this way.

He hoped Voltron and his pack felt the same- he hoped they weren't burdened by the knowledge of his untimely death.

A bead of sweat trickled down his temple and he let himself go.

~

A familiar touch graced his face, the rough thumb pad grazing over his inflamed lips. Fruitlessly, he tried to turn away but the pounding in his head made the task too great and he moaned weakly.

There was a soft hushing and the thumb moved until a whole hand was cupping his head gently, lifting it up from the ground and cushioning it.

He tried to open his eyes as the sound of mumbling met his cotton-filled ears. His eyeballs fluttered wildly behind his eyelids, curious and searching, but he was unable to open them.

He was unable to do much of anything with them, really, as his heavy body was lifted into the warm embrace of strong arms. The mumbling continued but Keith couldn't make sense of it. The only thing he knew was the sense of comfort that washed around him at the soft, hurried sounds.

There was a second set of hands on his face, brushing his damp hair away from his sweat-slicked forehead and words being spoken right next to his ear, but he knew nothing else.

~

Kolivan stood with his arms crossed in the Blades' hangar, tenseness emanating from his muscles.

Nobody had approached him in many quintants. Nobody had approached his pack, either, the scent of mourning and despair thick on their fur despite the stoic expressions they wore day-to-day.

He wasn't filled with despair on this day. No, for once, his heart beat a tune that sang with hope.

The call had come during one of Kolivan's many recent late nights. He'd been burying himself in his work, trying not to let his mind wander to how he knew Thace and Antok would still be training at this hour and how Ulaz hadn't slept in over two days. He almost didn't answer.

_"Sir? We've found your son."_

Kolivan had wasted no time informing Thace and Antok, deciding to bar Ulaz for his own health, and in as little time as possible, they were on their way to the coordinates Kolivan had been given.

He'd been anxious ever since he'd received confirmation that they'd found the kit. Thace wouldn't tell him what condition he was in, but Kolivan had confidence that he would've told him if Keith was dead.

So there he stood, awaiting their arrival in tense silence.

Kolivan ears perked the second he heard the air seal disengage in the room preceding the hangar.

A second later, the large entrance to the hangar slid open and in came Antok's vessel, adorned with the Blades' captain's tag on the side.

Kolivan forced himself to stand still as they stopped, his ears twitching.

Thace was the first to climb out, his face carrying a worrying pallor as he stood halfway down the steps, his hands raised cautiously in the air towards the ship's door as the small thing shook.

"Careful," Kolivan heard Thace mumble, going down the steps completely as Antok placed a careful foot on the first step.

Kolivan allowed himself to come closer, making a steady pace as his eyes locked themselves into the bundle of blankets Antok carried in his arms, carried like it was precious.

Hope and worry warred in his heart as he recognized the bundle as Keith, his mop of black hair unmistakable.

Thace glanced at him as he approached, hovering over Antok's side as he came to stand on flat ground.

Kolivan tried to look at Keith, but Thace put a hand on his shoulder, his face grim. "He doesn't look good."

Kolivan narrowed his eyes, his temper flaring at being disallowed to see his kit, but he took a breath.

They hadn't formed their bond with a lack of trust.

"Ulaz feared Keith would need a bed. He is preparing one as we speak," he said instead, deciding to trust his pack mate's judgment.

Antok said nothing, just strode past Kolivan and walked out of the hangar faster than Kolivan had ever seen him move outside of battle.

Kolivan and Thace followed, easily keeping up with his pace though a few bystanders suffered minor injuries. 

Kolivan took the lead towards the end of their trip, walking briskly through familiar halls until he stood in front of the room Ulaz had started setting up. The door slid open and Ulaz looked up and frowned, "I'm not-"

Kolivan immediately stepped aside, allowing Antok and Thace in, Antok coming to stand in front of Ulaz who had gone a pale lilac. "Is that...?" Antok nodded.

"They've done something to his face," Antok told him.

Kolivan stood back, anchored by Thace's hand on his arm as Ulaz moved the blanket that lied over Keith's face. His look was one of horror and Kolivan could stand still no longer.

Ignoring Thace's hand, he made quick strides to Ulaz's side, glaring when he tried to cover his face back up before Kolivan saw.

Kolivan lifted the blanket away from his face and his heart  _shattered._ Keith's face was flushed red and he harbored deep eye circles entrenched beneath his dense eyelashes and his cheekbones were prominent underneath his visibly dry skin. Those things made his heart pang, but they weren't what drew his eyes. No, his child's lips were a mess of red blood, both old and new, and a yellowish-green puss seeping from the uneven, clearly rushed holes pin-pricked into his lips, a vile, red-tinted thread sewing his lips shut.

Kolivan's fists clenched, his sharp nails like daggers through his skin. A growl rumbled in his throat, "They will  _pay._ "

"Agreed," Antok replied.

"We have bigger things to worry about than revenge," Ulaz hissed, rushing Antok over to the bed, "put him down."

Thace hovered worriedly behind Kolivan's back, "Is he going to be okay?"

Ulaz had reached back and pulled out a thermometer, one he recognized to be uniquely for creatures with Keith's species' bodily composition. Ulaz didn't answer as he stuck the stick into Keith's mouth through one of the threads, grimacing as it dissettled the pieces it went between.

"Can you not do that elsewhere?" Antok piped up, his muscles tight.

"I want to," Ulaz replied wearily, "but it won't be as accurate."

Ulaz took the thermometer out as soon as it beeped and read it. Immediately, he grimaced. "We need to move him to an ice bath. My memory of human anatomy is failing me at the moment, but I know that 106 degrees is too high."

"Don't humans' organs shut down at 104?" Kolivan asked as his ears flicked back, his eyes roaming over the rest of Keith.

"Technically, but I theorize that his tolerance is higher due to his Galra origin. Move him to the tub, I'll go fetch ice bags," Ulaz said. Antok gently lifted Keith, careful not to press his tender lips to any part of him, and transported him to the bathtub as asked.

Not a second later, Ulaz came in with four sacks of ice and wasted no time ripping into them with his teeth and dumping them onto Keith's overheated body. "Fill the tub with water until it reaches his neck, but take care not to drown him, I need to cut the threads and hook him up to human-friendly fluids."

Thace reached over and turned the faucet on, putting his hand under it to feel its temperature as Antok rested a hand at Keith's nape, supporting him so he wouldn't slip under.

This time, Ulaz arrived with a pole on wheels and an armful of supplies. He scooted Thace over so he could kneel by the tub and starting messing about with the bag hanging from the pole, uncapping the needle at the end of its tube.

Ulaz wiped Keith's arm down quickly before sticking the needle in. Then, he picked up the tweezers he had brought in with him and fixed all of them with a look. "Everyone out, I need to take the thread out and make sure his temperature gets down. I need focus."

Kolivan purses his lips but he'd hired Ulaz as their medic for a reason and he had to trust his judgment.

He followed the other two out, a heavy heart in his chest.

~

It was many vargas of distracted work before Ulaz came to Kolivan, a relieved smile hesitantly playing at his lips.

"Has his condition improved?" Kolivan asked.

"Yes. He's been moved to a bed for observation since his temperature has dropped to a safe level," Ulaz said. Kolivan stood and they walked out of his office together.

"Who is watching over him now?" Kolivan asked. He didn't truly believe that Ulaz would be so careless as to leave a stranger with their incapacitated kit, but the thought still ate at him.

"Thace," He replied fondly, "he was waiting at the door the entire time. I thought it best to give them some time while I retrieved you."

"What of Antok?"

"He is preoccupied with other matters, but I don't think he'll be far behind you," Ulaz said with a knowing lilt.

Just as promised, when they arrived, Thace was sitting by Keith's bed, holding his hand. Keith's small, frail hand was dwarfed by Thace's.

When Kolivan saw Keith's face, he was relieved to find the stitches gone. His face didn't look better, his lips still horribly swollen and red, but his color had died down a bit and, overall, he seemed to be recovering.

Kolivan sat opposite to Thace and let his hand roam through his kit's hair as he slept.

~

When Keith came to, he found himself pleasantly surprised. His body didn't feel as terrible as it had, but he knew his lips still felt tender without even having to move them. His back was cushioned by something far softer than the ground of his cell, but he couldn't place where he was.

He didn't feel unsafe in this place, though, his instincts told him he wasn't where he'd been and he let himself relax. 

He hand moved a bit and he realized it was clasped in something else, as was his other--

_\--Clamps on his wrists, metal bars separating his fingers, "Don't move or we'll break them and tear them off your puny hands--"_

\--His chest heaved on his breath as the memory rushed at him, the things clamping his hands moved and scrabbled to hold his shoulder down as he gulped in large, piercing breaths that seared past his lips.

"Keith!" Keith's eyes snapped open and he looked up, wide-eyed.

"Thace..." Keith breathed, is vice raspy and hurried.

Thace was panting from where he was kneeling on top of him, "You're safe, kit."

Keith's eyes roamed and he noticed Kolivan who looked surprised, halfway out of his chair. Ulaz was at his other side and Antok was standing just behind him, his tail swishing anxiously.

Keith slumped, his breath filtering out of him all at once, "You came for me."

"Of course," Ulaz said as Thace climbed down. "did you not expect us to?"

Keith shook his head honestly, "No."

Thace's face twisted into a frown, "Why?"

Keith shrugged weakly, his shoulders heavy. "The mission."

"No matter," Kolivan said decisively, "you're home now."

Keith tried to smile but winced, a hand coming up to touch his lips. Ulaz gently intercepted him, removing his hand to keep him from touching. "Don't touch it."

"Is it bad?" Keith asked him. It felt bad.

"Nothing that won't heal, my kit." Ulaz smiled and brushed his hair back. Keith closed his eyes and basked in the warmth and attention he was receiving from his family.

He was home.   
  


**Author's Note:**

>  **I'm taking prompts for Bad Things Happen Bingo over on my Tumblr:** one-trigger-lullaby.tumblr.com
> 
> I'll also be doing a Keitor gift exchange in December and if you want to see the results of that, you should follow me ;)


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